In Los Angeles, Joe Hai meets with Kevending.

"Joe, here's a picture we took on Sunset Strip, and your message is correct, Karl Malone's agent, Dwight Manley, and Gary Payton's agent, Jeff Schultz, are all present in Los Angeles."

"And, we also saw Gary Payton's meeting with Mitch Kupchak! But no pictures were taken. ”

Qiao Hai was thoughtful, and then he said: "That's the real hammer, you can send this report to the outside world." ”

Kevindin hesitated: "Do you really want to send it?" ”

Qiao Hai said casually: "Let's send it, by the way, I will say that the Rockets are going to join the competition for Gary Payton." ”

Kevending immediately understood that Qiao Hai was going to build momentum for himself, first exposing the news that the Lakers were going to form a Big Four, and then the Rockets joined the competition.

Through this kind of competition on the surface, the two sides will not leave each other's hole cards, and Qiao Hai will have a very high chance of winning, after all, he is Qiao Hai!

……

Qiao Hai stayed in Los Angeles for a day, and the next day, Hoop exposed a big piece of news in the form of headlines!

"Touching Karl Malone and Gary Payton at the same time, the Lakers want to form a Big Four to attack the third championship of the OK combination?"

Then, the whole of North America went crazy, and the ESPN pundits didn't have time to focus on a small Dwayne Wade.

All eyes are on the Lakers to form the Big Four.

Qiao Hai has also contacted Jeff Schultz at this time and got the opportunity to meet Gary Payton, for Qiao Hai, having the opportunity to meet means that Gary Payton will also consider the Rocket, it depends on whether Qiao Hai can conquer Gary Payton.

……

Prior to Joe's meeting with Gary Payton, the Rockets received a Jazz offer back to Carlos Boozer, and Darryl Morey informed Joehai by phone.

"Their return price is DeSean Stevensga's draft pick for next year, but the pick is protected with the first year lotto protection, the second year of the lottery protection, the second year of the top five, the third of the top three."

Protected picks......

Qiao Hai frowned, this type of pick, he doesn't want and won't want it, because he only has one year in the Rockets.

Now, what he needs is instant combat power.

Therefore, Qiao Hai decided to put the deal on hold for the time being.

……

In the 2002-2003 season, Gary Payton was also an All-Star point guard who averaged 20.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

The two teams have 37 wins, and before he went to the Bucks, the Bucks were bottom in the East, and after going to the Bucks, the Bucks had a 15-13 record in the second half of the game.

Before he left the supersounds, the supersonic were on the verge of the playoffs, and after he left the supersounds, the supersonic plummeted.

To a certain extent, these two contrasts illustrate Gary Payton's strength at this time.

Gary Payton, who is 35 years old, is still an All-Star caliber player in the league.

A café on Sunset Boulevard, where Qiao Hai and Stan Lefour appeared, and then sat down by the window on the second floor.

After waiting for a few minutes, Gary Payton, who was wearing heavy sunglasses, sat opposite Qiao Hai and Stan Loreford, together with Jeff Schultz.

"Hello, Mr. Joe, hello, Mr. Love."

As soon as they came up, Gary Payton greeted Qiao Hai and Stan Lefu very humbly, and after sitting down, they got to the point.

"Gary, Jeff, we're going to get straight to the point, and we're looking to sign Gary as a reinforcement at the point guard position."

At the moment of negotiation, Gary Payton shut up, Jeff Schultz plenipotentiary.

Jeff Schultz is one of the best agents in the NBA, and in addition to Gary Payton, he also has star players like Jason Kidd, Paul Pierce and Jerry Starkerhouse.

His negotiating skills are also clearly excellent.

Qiao Hai expressed their thoughts, and Jeff Schultz immediately took the words: "I know, Mr. Qiao, you came to us, except to sign Gary, what else can it do?" ”

He spread his hands and continued, "But Mr. Joe, you should know that Gary is in the final stages of his career, and he needs an O'Brien Cup. ”

Qiao Hai also nodded immediately: "I know, O'Brien Cup, this is also the goal of the Rockets, next season, our goal is to win the championship." ”

"Mr. Joe, with all due respect." Jeff Schultz frowned. "On paper, the Rockets don't seem to have the strength to compete for the championship."

Qiao Hai smiled: "You can't just look at the strength on paper, Jeff, you have to know that in the 2003 playoffs that just ended, we and the Lakers played a tie-break." ”

"No, I think it's still very important on paper, the Lakers have two superstars, plus Gary, they have a good chance of winning the championship."

Qiao Hai was serious: "Rockets also have superstars, and Yao is no worse than Shaq." ”

"But you only need one Yao, and the Lakers have one more Kobe Bryant." Jeff Schultz shook his head and retorted.

Qiao Hai smiled again and pointed at himself: "Jeff, you obviously forgot about someone, an important person!" ”

"Actually, as long as I want to win, there's no one in this league who can stop me! Phil Jackson and Larry Brown can't do it, and Rick Carlisle can't do it! ”

Qiao Hai's words were generous and powerful, and Jeff Schultz was also a little speechless.

Indeed, Qiao Hai has proven his coaching ability, and now he can be equal to a superstar in a certain sense, perhaps, in terms of pure strength, this rocket can indeed be equal to the Lakers.

But Jeff Schultz is still hesitating, he feels that compared to the Lakers, the Rockets have no advantage and cannot directly conquer him and Gary Payton.

After thinking for a while, Qiao Hai spoke again: "Let's do an analysis, first of all, the Lakers' lineup, indeed, they have OK two superstars, but OK is no longer the OK of the year, they have very deep contradictions." ”

"I met Shaq in Akron last year and chatted with him for a couple of words, in which he looked down on Kobe Bryant very much, the contradiction between the two of them is already irreconcilable, such a team, no matter how strong it is, will not win the O'Brien Cup."

"As for the Rockets, Yao is a very fast-growing center, his offensive firepower is very ferocious, and he can almost match Shaq."

"On the outside, Dwayne will be another star, but obviously, he's just a rookie, Ron is a very good defensive gate, and he has a strong individual offense, but again, he's just a general, not a handsome, so we need Gary to lead our outside line and be that talent."

When Joe Hai said that Dwayne was another star, Jeff Schultz frowned.

After Qiao Hai finished speaking, he slowly spoke: "Dwayne Wade will be another star?" ”

Qiao Hai was stunned for a moment, and then he reacted, Jeff Schultz didn't seem to be optimistic about Dwyane Wade, and then looked at Gary Payton who was nodding on the other side, it seemed that Gary Payton didn't believe much in Wade's strength.

Qiao Hai thought for a while, and the problems within the Lakers were blown out by Qiao Hai, and to a certain extent, it had made Gary Payton hesitate.

Next, Qiao Hai only needs to show the strength of the Rockets to conquer Gary Payton.

So, he decided to be in less of a hurry and slow down.

"Gary, Dwayne is training in Anaheim for the summer league that starts next week, and I think you can check it out," he proposed. ”

Gary Payton nodded, after the internal contradictions between Kobe and O'Neal were amplified by Qiao Hai, Gary Payton had already put the Rockets and the Lakers on the same level.

Taking a look at Wade's strength on the spot is also a very important part, and the strength of the rocket depends on Wade's personal ability......